was a British
writer and physician, most noted for his
fictional stories about the detective Sherlock
Holmes, which are generally considered
milestones in the field of crime fiction. He is
also known for writing the fictional adventures
of a second character he invented, Professor
Challenger, and for popularising the mystery of
the Mary Celeste. He was a prolific writer whose
other works include fantasy and science fiction
stories, plays, romances, poetry, non-fiction
and historical novels.

was an
influential and highly successful American
actor-manager, playwright, and stage-manager in
the late 19th and early 20th centuries. He is
best remembered for portraying Sherlock Holmes
on stage, though he also played the part on
camera in 1916. His portrayal of Holmes helped
create the modern image of the detective. He
assumed the role on stage more than 1,300 times
over thirty years, starred in the silent motion
picture based on his Holmes play, and voiced the
character twice on radio.

A fan of The Avengers and
Doctor Who since 1976, Alan runs
The Avengers Declassified, one of the
most popular Avengers websites. He has
reconstructed Series 1 Avengers episodes
for DVD, and spruced up twenty 1970s radio
serial adaptations of the series. He has also
contributed to the charity anthologies You
and Who: Contact Has Been Made and You
and Who Else (both from
Watching Books - and recommended).If
he's not doing any of these things, he'll be
writing, designing, working on other websites
such as
Randall and Hopkirk (Declassified) and
JSFnetGB, attacking and adding to the
ever-growing DVD mountain, or wasting far, far
too much time on Facebook and internet forums...

When he's not
busy editing children's titles for an
illustrated book publisher, Richard writes
features and reviews for the websites
The Avengers Declassified
and
Sci-Fi Online. He has also contributed
to print publications including DreamWatch
and Satellite Times and the charity
anthologies Avengerworld (Hidden Tiger),
You and Who: Contact
Has Been Made and You and Who Else
(both from Watching Books). Richard has also
been called upon to write liner notes for Big
Finish Productions' The Avengers - The Lost
Episodes.

A long-time
archive TV enthusiast and fan of series such as
Doctor Who, The Avengers and
Monty Python's Flying Circus, Alys
has helped recover and restore the Avengers
radio series, and has worked on Series 1 DVD
reconstructions of this series. Away from the
show, she works in the television industry, is a
classic car enthusiast, and dotes on Zoe, her
power-crazed but oh-so-cute cat. In addition to
her work for Hidden Tiger, Alys has also
contributed to the charity anthology You and
Who: Contact Has Been Made (Watching Books).

South Londoner Paul now lives in
Ireland with his wife and two children. He has
always had a penchant for writing but work
commitments were constantly getting in the way
of things. When the recession led to redundancy,
it gave him the impetus he needed and he
completed his first book,
Requiem for Sherlock Holmes, within a
year. A sequel is in process. As well as
Sherlock Holmes, he also has a strong interest
in Doctor Who and has had essays included
in both volumes of You and Who: Contact Has
Been Made, originally published by
Miwk Publishing and now reprinted by
Watching Books.

was a Londoner who emigrated to
Australia in the 1910s to seek his fortune.
However, Francis settled into a hard life in New
South Wales, Australia, which never delivered on
his aspirations. He worked sporadically as a
gardener, but was often out of work. It was
during his time in Australia that Francis wrote
his novellas and short stories; only a small
proportion of his works were published, always
in the local press. His stories remained
unpublished until his descendants collaborated
in 2011 to compile Tales
from the Moonstone Inn (Hidden Tiger).
Francis died aged 64 in Lidcombe State Hospital,
New South Wales, on Wednesday 13th October 1937.
He was buried in an unmarked grave in the
Anglican 'pauper' section of Rookwood Cemetery,
Rookwood, New South Wales.